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This is one of two minis that come in the 02876 blister pack from Reaper. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the weird winged skull thing on the top of his staff, but it turned out ok. He has a little tarantula familiar at his feet, which was a nice touch by the sculptor, Ben Siens.

I got this miniature in anticipation of running the old AD&D adventure modules D1, D2, D3, and Q1, which all involve lots of dark elves. The campaign started with the Slavers series, A1-A4, continued through the Against the Giants series, G1-G3 and ended right after we finished G3, “Hall of the Fire Giant King.”

I was originally going to put it on a 1-inch base, since she is a medium creature. Then I saw a miniature on the Reaper.com forums that had a really beautiful floor and carpet, so I sculpted up my own marble floor and oriental style rug for Shaeress. I’m glad I did, because I’m happy with the way the floor and rug both turned out.

I was also originally going to add a pair of large wings to her back. Later, I figured that since dark elves are associated with spiders, not with winged things, I would nix that plan.

This “Wind Elemental” is a mini I received as part of what I’ve dubbed “The Ennis Collection.” A wonderful friend of many years and her father gave me a large box of over 120 miniatures, mostly from Grenadier box sets. This mini is from about 1980; the Grenadier AD&D Monsters 5002 box set. The box was discovered as her father was cleaning out his home to move closer to his daughter and her family. Her brother purchased these for his D&D games when he was a teen. Sadly, her brother died early, so these went unused and unnoticed for many years.

I felt that the mini looked a bit too much like a benign cloud, rather than a living tornado of death and destruction that would strike fear into the hearts of knights and wizards, so I took it upon myself to improve on it. I sculpted whirling blade-arms (inspired by my Ninja blender) and a gathering cloud of swirling storm around the base with Green Stuff. Then airbrushed most of it. Finally I gave him some glowing eyes shining out from the vortex. I think the results are quite a bit more fearsome, and the arms and large base make him more substantial on the playing table.